you are, that you may

we have been conditioned from birth to hear the coo of our veneration:

you are smart.

you are beautiful.

you are talented.

you are special.

you are important.

naturally, then, we love to hear our own praises. so when we read, “you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession...” (1 Peter 2:9), we assume that this is just the spiritual bridge to the song of adoration that our parents wrote for us at birth. however, Peter does not stop there, he goes on, “that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” don’t miss that!

you are chosen. that you may proclaim. all for His glory. (see Ezekiel 36:22-38).

the story of your life never belonged to you; God is in the business of glorifying Himself, with or without your participation.

this truth should touch every facet of our walk, especially our prayer life.

we pray:

God bless me.

God comfort me.

God heal me.

God provide for me.

these prayers beg the question, for what purpose?

imagine that at the end of every request we laid before the Lord, we added the phrase so that Ican.whatwould that do to your prayer life?

God bless me, so that I can bless those around me.

God comfort me, so that all my joy is rooted in Your salvation and not my circumstances; so that I may share with others the inexplicable peace I have in the midst of this suffering.

God heal me, so that I can have one more day to freely confess with my words and deeds the Lordship of Jesus Christ over my life.

God provide for me, so that I will not profane Your name by providing for myself with dishonest gain.

do you hear the difference?

one says, "do this for me because you love me," the other says, "do this for me because you love the world."

it’s been said that if all God wanted was deeper communion with you, He would have raptured you as you professed your faith in Him, yet you are still here...